As a Christian I am a citizen of Heaven. One day that will be my eternal home. While I'm in no hurry to leave this world, I do look forward to the time I enter heaven where I will be reunited with loved ones and be in the eternal presence of my Creator and Savior.
Until that time, I am a citizen of this world. According to Scripture my role in this world is to be a light pointing people to Jesus Christ. The mandate God gave the church is to go into all the world spreading the word about Jesus Christ, baptizing those who believe, and helping them grow as disciples. This is important work that no Christian can ignore.
More specifically, I am a citizen of the United States of America. The Bible commands us to be good citizens of our nation. We are to pay our taxes, obey those over us, pray for our leaders and treat one another with love and respect. As a citizen of this wonderful nation I volunteered to join the Navy during the Vietnam war to defend our nation, its freedoms and principles. I have never failed to vote in any election, primary or regular, since becoming eligible to do so. I have paid my taxes on time every year. I take great pleasure in repeating the Pledge of Allegiance, praying for our leaders (even if I didn't vote for them or agree with them), and doing what I can to make our nation a better place.
Today we celebrate the birth of our nation. We are a nation founded on individual freedoms, given to us by God, not man. We have fought many wars to preserve those freedoms and to help other nations enjoy many of the same freedoms. No people anywhere in the world enjoy the same freedoms we have. This is something some in our nation seen to not understand.
Those who want to see our country become socialist do not understand that socialism has never worked anywhere in the world except in a university classroom. It robs people of dignity and freedom and has caused great suffering among the people in any nation that has embraced it. Those who want to take away our freedom of speech do not realize that it is that freedom that enables them to make the stupid statements they make and would prevent the population of speaking out against things they consider wrong. Those who would limit the the freedom of religion fail to understand the role faith has played in this nation and in the lives of those who embrace it.
This week Nike yielded to the demands of a former athlete and pulled a shoe that had an image of a Betsy Ross flag on the backside of it. The athlete claimed it celebrated a time in our nation's history when slavery was celebrated. He found it offensive. I find it offensive that a former athlete has so much influence over a major corporation that a product to celebrate our great nation can be withdrawn. I'm sure this multi-billion dollar corporation will do just fine when the dust settles over this issue. People tend to have very short memories, and they will continue to buy overpriced clothes and products with walking billboards printed on them. I won't be one of those.
One of the freedoms we enjoy is the right to speak our minds, and I would not want to infringe on the right of this athlete or Nike to do so. At the same time, I will not support anyone that is not proud of our nation.
Yes, slavery is a huge blight on our nation, but let's not forget that we fought a war that could have destroyed this nation in order to abolish it. Racism continues to exist in our nation to our shame, but we continue to work to overcome it. Is it taking too long? Yes, but progress is being made. There have been many other issues that prove that America isn't perfect, but it still offers the most freedoms and the best way of life of any nation on earth. If it didn't, why would so many people be trying to come here and so few people leaving? During the last presidential election many "celebrities" promised to leave the US if Donald Trump was elected President. Not a single one of them did! Why? Because they knew they couldn't go anywhere else and enjoy the same freedoms and opportunities they have here.
As we celebrate the founding of our nation let every Christian remember that he or she is first a citizen of another Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, but let us also celebrate the freedoms we enjoy as a citizen of the United States. Let us always be proud of our country and be willing to do whatever we can to make her even better than she is today.
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